Regarded as one of the greatest
commanders in American military history, Thomas
Jonathan Jackson is also considered to be one of
the most righteous, inspirational, and eccentric of
all the Confederacy’s leaders.

Raised by Episcopalian relatives
following the untimely deaths of both his father
and mother, he joined the Presbyterian Church in
the early 1850s and later became a deacon who
generously donated one tenth of his earnings to the
church. Eager to share his renewed faith with all
people, Jackson started a Sunday school in
Lexington, Virginia for African-Americans and
proudly practiced civil disobedience while teaching
black children the ways of salvation. Although he
could not alter the social status of slaves, he
committed himself to Christian decency and pledged
to “assist the souls of those held in bondage.”
Eventually the Sunday school grew beyond the
allotted facilities and ultimately blossomed into
new churches for African-Americans. As a result,
many ex-slaves became preachers themselves and were
later responsible for some of the largest religious
revivals that followed the South's
surrender.

Despite his patriotic devotion as a
career military man, Jackson maintained that his
first duty was always that of a soldier in what he
referred to as “The Army of the Lord”. After
graduating 17th (out of 59) in his class at West
Point, he served in the Mexican War before
accepting a teaching position at the Virginia
Military Institute. Specializing in “Natural
Physics” Jackson established the reputation as a
brilliant artillery commander and was personally
selected by General Robert E. Lee to command a
company of VMI cadets. Distraught over the North’s
impending invasion of the South, he swore his
allegiance to the Army of the Shenandoah (later
assumed by the Army of Northern Virginia) and vowed
to fight for God and country to the bitter end.
Duty however, did not stifle his religious
convictions and many members of his brigade were
quickly indoctrinated with their commander’s
infectious faith.

Much to Jackson's dismay, most
armies during the beginning of the War Between the
States did not commonly deploy with embedded
clergy. Clearly, this Christian general recognized
the need for spiritual strengthening and that a
healthy soul meant healthy troops. He was one of
the South's first high-ranking officers to
personally lobby the Confederate Government for
chaplains, arguing that a soldier's mental state of
mind directly affected his ability to perform on
the battlefield. Jackson also regularly put forth
an effort to introduce this philosophy to the rest
of the Confederate Army. Whenever possible, a
strict schedule of morning and evening worship on
the Sabbath, as well as Wednesday prayer meetings,
was adhered to at all costs. One of our local
Fredericksburg preachers, the chaplain Reverend
Tucker Lacy routinely led the services, which were
often attended by General Lee and his staff.

Perhaps best known as “Stonewall”,
Jackson earned his nickname at the First Battle of
Manassas (aka First Bull Run), after refusing to
withdraw his troops in the face of total carnage.
After Brigadier General Barnard Bee informed him
that his forces were being beaten back, Jackson
replied, "Sir, we will give them the bayonet."
Inspired by the bravery of his subordinate, General
Bee immediately rallied the remnants of his brigade
while shouting "There is Jackson standing like a
stone wall. Let us determine to die here, and we
will conquer." A devout believer in predestination,
Jackson insisted that God had already determined
his time on earth and that no spot on the
battlefield was safer than the other. It was this
unwavering conviction that enabled him to lead his
troops into battle without the fear of death and
inspire countless others to rally behind him.

Courage however, could not hide his
obvious distaste for war and regardless of victory;
Jackson remained committed to ending the conflict
as soon as possible. Preaching a harsh philosophy
of swift and total destruction, Jackson believed
that the sooner an enemy force was destroyed - the
less lives would ultimately be lost. He referred to
this action as “the black flag” and reminded his
officers that regardless of their orders, duty was
theirs – the consequences were God’s.

During the Shenandoah Campaign of
1862, Jackson repeatedly proved himself to be a
brilliant strategist, but still found time to hold
Bible study and hymnal sessions with the senior
officers of his brigade. Despite being an
“academic”, he resisted the urge to glorify war and
routinely quoted “battle accounts” taken from the
Bible in place of his own reports. Always eager to
share his relationship with the Father, Jackson
wrote letter after letter urging his countrymen
(and women) to actively seek repentance. One
letter, written to his sister, summarized his
faith:

You wish to know how to come to
God; so as to have your sins forgiven, and to
receive "the inheritance which is incorruptible and
undefiled, and that fadeth not away." Now my dear
sister the way is plain: the savior says in Mark
XVI chapter, 16th verse "He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved." But you may ask what is
it to believe. To explain this I will quote from an
able theologian, and devoted servant of God. To
believe in the sense in which the word is used
here, "is feeling and acting as if there were a
God, a Heaven, a Hell; as if we were sinners and
must die; as if we deserve eternal death, and were
in danger of it. And in view of all, casting our
eternal interests on the mercy of God in Christ
Jesus. To do this is to be a Christian."

Always a teacher, Jackson dedicated
almost every waking moment (that did not require
his military service) to educating the uneducated,
uplifting the downtrodden and introducing those
around him to the glory of God. His popularity with
the troops also enabled him to reach them in ways
that other men could not and he was often found
praying with the wounded at their bedside. After a
series of tremendous victories, the Confederacy
appeared to be well on its way to declaring
independence. However, the fortunes of war would
quickly turn in the Union’s favor after the sudden
and accidental death of the general they called
“Stonewall.”

On
May 2, 1863, during the battle of Chancellorsville,
Jackson’s own men accidentally fired upon him
resulting in three wounds and an amputated arm.
Initially, he looked to make a full recovery, but
he later developed an incurable case of pneumonia.
After a few days, it was a foregone conclusion that
death was drawing near. Upon hearing his prognosis,
Jackson replied that he had always wanted to die on
a Sunday and that, "It will be infinite gain to be
translated to Heaven." He then asked his wife to
pray for him but to always use the petition of “Thy
Will Be Done.” In the end, he clearly accepted his
fate as part of God’s divine plan and resolved to
spend his last hours before delirium set in,
reading the Bible and contemplating his next
journey.

A
few moments before he died, he cried out, “Order A.
P. Hill to prepare for action!” Then a smile spread
over his face, and he quietly whispered his last
words saying, “Let us cross over the river and rest
under the shade of the trees.” Finally, without the
slightest sign of pain or discomfort, his spirit
passed with open arms back to God, who was most
certainly awaiting his arrival. He was 39 years
old.

Much more than just a general,
Thomas Jackson was a true believer, who lived
everyday for the glory of God. In the end, perhaps
this Christian soldier's biggest victory was not in
defeating his foes on the battlefield, but in
convincing others to surrender their lives to the
Lord.